Newscast nonsense
Six years ago, I had anxiously awaited the launch of a new television channel in Malayalam. The channel, Kairali, promoted by the state’s Left, had all the hype during its pre-launch days. Interestingly, the channel lived up to its name, though there were (there still are) problems. However, I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the first newscast from Kairali. Left or not wasn’t my concern. The presentation had something unique about it and I enjoyed watching Kairali on day one, two, three and the months that followed. Mind you, I’m not a hardcore Left sympathizer too to talk all things good about the CPI(M) telly airwaves.
Six years hence, as the day dawned on August 17, I was left shocked and disappointed and what not. I still haven’t recovered. August 17 saw the launch of Kerala’s most popular (sic) media house’s invasion of the airwaves. The disappointment comes not because MM News was launched. The disappointment is due to the burst of the MM News bubble.
Analyse this:
1. The news team, say insiders, was trained by a special team comprising none other than CNN (Holy Cow!!!) professionals.
2. The news team comprises a mix of professionals picked and poached from various media houses.
3. Talent reigns supreme when it comes to Malayala Manorama.
4. The channel launch was delayed citing various reasons, though I personally believe it was an exercise intended to perfect the act of news cast.
Now grab your remote controllers, dive into the stuff that is being aired on MM News. I, personally, as a mediaperson, wouldn’t want myself to be trained by a CNN team if this is what I would end up being. Would you?
I don’t think anyone would want to teach Malayalam to people at Manorama. But then, why wasn’t Spoken Malayalam taught to the news anchors who belt out stuff that evoke a giggle when they present hard news. Why do these young men and women stress on the wrong spot between sentences? Would someone tell me it’s deliberate to create an impression of freshness? If that’s the reason why news anchors sound funny, I apologise. But then, I wish, these news presenters realise they are part of a reputed media house.
A person presenting NEWS does the job of the word printed on the pages of a broadsheet. Deliberate errors don’t deserve pardon, be it the word or the voice. For errors to be avoided, one should know, understand and imbibe NEWS. So why not learn NEWS before belting out words that end up as only noises. News casting is no joke, dude.
****
Tailpiece:
For those interested, let me narrate excerpts from an interview to select journalism students in a reputed institute of journalism recently. This was told to me by a good friend of mine who was witness to the whole episode.
Interviewer (A senior media professional): What newspapers do you read?
Candidate: I’m not much into reading newspapers.
Interviewer: Do you realise you are here to do a course in journalism?
Candidate: Sir, gimme a mike and a camera. I can present news very well in front of a camera, I believe. Won’t that be enough?
Well, what do you have to say?
Six years ago, I had anxiously awaited the launch of a new television channel in Malayalam. The channel, Kairali, promoted by the state’s Left, had all the hype during its pre-launch days. Interestingly, the channel lived up to its name, though there were (there still are) problems. However, I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the first newscast from Kairali. Left or not wasn’t my concern. The presentation had something unique about it and I enjoyed watching Kairali on day one, two, three and the months that followed. Mind you, I’m not a hardcore Left sympathizer too to talk all things good about the CPI(M) telly airwaves.
Six years hence, as the day dawned on August 17, I was left shocked and disappointed and what not. I still haven’t recovered. August 17 saw the launch of Kerala’s most popular (sic) media house’s invasion of the airwaves. The disappointment comes not because MM News was launched. The disappointment is due to the burst of the MM News bubble.
Analyse this:
1. The news team, say insiders, was trained by a special team comprising none other than CNN (Holy Cow!!!) professionals.
2. The news team comprises a mix of professionals picked and poached from various media houses.
3. Talent reigns supreme when it comes to Malayala Manorama.
4. The channel launch was delayed citing various reasons, though I personally believe it was an exercise intended to perfect the act of news cast.
Now grab your remote controllers, dive into the stuff that is being aired on MM News. I, personally, as a mediaperson, wouldn’t want myself to be trained by a CNN team if this is what I would end up being. Would you?
I don’t think anyone would want to teach Malayalam to people at Manorama. But then, why wasn’t Spoken Malayalam taught to the news anchors who belt out stuff that evoke a giggle when they present hard news. Why do these young men and women stress on the wrong spot between sentences? Would someone tell me it’s deliberate to create an impression of freshness? If that’s the reason why news anchors sound funny, I apologise. But then, I wish, these news presenters realise they are part of a reputed media house.
A person presenting NEWS does the job of the word printed on the pages of a broadsheet. Deliberate errors don’t deserve pardon, be it the word or the voice. For errors to be avoided, one should know, understand and imbibe NEWS. So why not learn NEWS before belting out words that end up as only noises. News casting is no joke, dude.
****
Tailpiece:
For those interested, let me narrate excerpts from an interview to select journalism students in a reputed institute of journalism recently. This was told to me by a good friend of mine who was witness to the whole episode.
Interviewer (A senior media professional): What newspapers do you read?
Candidate: I’m not much into reading newspapers.
Interviewer: Do you realise you are here to do a course in journalism?
Candidate: Sir, gimme a mike and a camera. I can present news very well in front of a camera, I believe. Won’t that be enough?
Well, what do you have to say?
Comments
Thanx a tonne Sunesh, for the comment.
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